I absentmindedly search through the puzzle pieces, looking for a match, but my mind is blank. I can’t focus hard enough to help them.
Finally, a photo pops up. Then another. And another.
They’re photos of artwork — his mother’s. An oil portrait of a woman. A watercolor of children standing on a beach. And a sensual nude of an attractive young woman, rendered in oil.
They’re beautiful,I write.
—
Thank you. Yes, she was very talented.
—
I guess that’s where you get it from. My mother wasn’t an artist. She was a nurse. She was a very caring person, always looking out for others before herself. Very giving.
Like you,he writes.
I smile.
Now, how would you know that? You don’t even know me.
—
I can see from your pictures… there’s just one or two of you with your kids, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I can tell your kids are happy, and that you’re a good mom.
Aw…
Iama good mom.
Thank you.
I scroll through my phone to find a photo of my mother. My heart sinks when I land on one of my favorites, a silly one of the two of us and the kids making faces, taken by a stranger at Disney World. John was in Europe for work, and my mother had offered to take me and the kids to Florida. It was taken just a few weeks before she died. I want to cry every time I look at it. It hurts so much, but it’s also one of my favorite photos because it reminds me of how she was; quirky, silly, and fun.
I send him the photo.
Chapter Five
That’s me and my mom.
—
Wow! You and your daughter look exactly like her.
—
Yes! Everyone says that. She was beautiful.
I like talking to someone about my mom. It feels good. I was in shambles when she died. John tried to be supportive but he just couldn’t be there for me the way I needed him to be. Truth be told, he and my mother never did get along.
Yes. Beautiful indeed,Eli replies.
I’m a loss for words. And more than a little flattered.
Emma is sitting next to me, working on the puzzle, and wearing one of her princess dresses and a tiara.
Where are you from? What is your background?
I smile. He’s trying to determine where my exotic looks come from.
